Violence against women and girls is one of the most common human rights violations. Violence against women still often goes unpunished because of silence, stigma and shame.
November 25 is the International Day for ending the violence against women. On this day, the 16-day campaign against gender-based violence in the world begins, ending on December 10 – International Human Rights Day. The aim of the campaign is to raise public awareness of the challenges and problems of violence against women.
Who are the Mirabal Sisters?
Women’s rights activists have been marking November 25 as the Day for the Elimination of Gender-Based Violence since 1981. This date was chosen in honor of the Mirabal Sisters, three political activist women. Sisters Patria, Minerva, and Maria Theresa fought against the dictatorial regime of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, and on November 25, 1960, all three lost their lives.
Mirabal sisters were called “the butterflies” (“Las Mariposas”). They were from one of the provinces of the Dominican Republic – Salcedo, had university education, a career, were married and had children. Prior to their death, the sisters spent 10 years fighting the Trujillo regime, two of them, Minerva and Maria Teresa, had even been imprisoned several times for activism.
“If they kill me, I will reach my hand out from the grave and be even stronger” – these are the words with which Minerva responded to everyone who tried to warn her about the dangers. On November 25. 1960, her corpse was found in a car in a ravine, along with her two sisters – Patria and Maria Theresa. Over half a century later, Minerva’s promise has come true – the death of the sisters is viewed as the main factor that lead to the fall of Trujillo’s regime, and the name of the Mirabal sisters became a global symbol of women’s fight.
What is violence against women?
The 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, issued by the UN General Assembly, defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that causes or may cause physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, including threats, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, in public or private life.”
According to the current legislation of Georgia, violence against women means all actions characteristic of gender-based violence against women in public or private life, which results in or may result in physical, psychological or sexual suffering or economic harm to women, including threats to commit such acts, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty for them.
Physical violence – beating, torture, damage to health, unlawful deprivation of liberty or any other act that causes physical pain or suffering; Failure to comply with health requirements, resulting in injury or death of a family member;
Psychological violence – insults, blackmail, humiliation, threats or other actions that violate human dignity and honor;
Sexual Abuse – Sexual intercourse with violence, threats of violence, or the use of victim helplessness; Sexual intercourse or any other act of a sexual nature or fornication towards a minor;
Economic violence – an act that results in the restriction of the right to food, housing and other related conditions, the use of property and labor rights, as well as the use of co-owned property and the right to utilize of one’s share;
Coercion – the physical or psychological coercion of a person to perform or not to perform an action, the performance of which a person has the right to refrain from, or to influence them against their will;
According to the statistics, one in three women in the world has experienced some form of violence at least once in their life. While any woman might fall victim to gender-based violence, some women and girls are particularly vulnerable. These are young girls, older women, women who identify as lesbians, bisexuals, transgender or intersex, migrants and refugees, those who represent ethnic minorities, and women living with disabilities. The slogan of the worldwide campaign to raise awareness about violence against women this year is as follows: “Orange the World! End Violence Against Women Now!” Orange is a symbol of a bright, non-violent future for women and girls.
Several events have already been held in Georgia within the framework of the 16-day campaign: The women’s rights organization Sapari held a conference on “Sexual Offenses: Challenges in Law and Practice”, which addressed issues related to the practice of investigating and prosecuting sexual offenses, as well as topics related to legislative changes in the area of sexual offenses.
On November 26, the presentation of the online platform “Femina +” was held, created by the women’s rights NGO Femina. The aim of the platform is, through multimedia content, to raise awareness about the problems and current issues that women face in their daily lives. Rights and freedoms, discrimination, violence against women, various forms of violence, gender stereotypes, glass ceiling, pay gap, reproductive and sexual health, ecofeminism, gender, peace and security and more.
